1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to water bottles for use with bottled water dispensing apparatus that receive a water bottle in an inverted position, and more specifically to an improvement for increasing the stability of the water bottle on the dispensing apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
Bottled water dispensing apparatus, commonly referred to as "water coolers", have been widely used in many settings including office buildings, homes, restaurants, to supply clean drinking water, etc. The water dispensing apparatus normally includes a apparatus housing having an upwardly open reservoir which receives and supports a water bottle that is placed on the open reservoir in an inverted manner. Water is then selectively dispensed from the reservoir using a faucet valve or tap on the front of the apparatus housing.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,155,259 and 5,297,700 both depict the general placement of a water bottle on the housing of a water cooler type dispensing apparatus. Unfortunately, problems arise from the manner in which the water bottle is placed in an inverted manner on the reservoir. The bottle is precariously balanced on an annular edge of a bottle receiving opening of the housing, and in many instances, any bumping of the bottle or apparatus housing causes the bottle to tilt, or possibly even fall off of the apparatus housing, which may cause injury to those around the apparatus either from the bottle or from any water spilling on the ground. Moreover, it is difficult to keep the bottle level while it is inverted, and therefore the bottle may sit in a tilted position, which increases the possibility of the bottle tipping over with a slight bumping of the bottle or the apparatus housing.
A typical solution used to combat this problem has been to use specialized adapters that aid in providing a tighter fit of the bottle to the apparatus housing. U.S. Pat. No. 3,688,950 to Parish shows one example of a typical adapter member that retrofits into existing water dispenser apparatus, wherein the adapter includes a supporting plate and a plug member. In addition, the Parish invention utilizes a specialized bottle bag structure disposed in a paper carton that has a spout for carrying water from the bag to the water reservoir and apparatus housing. The Parish structure, however, has the problem that it involves the use of specialized adapter members which are complicated and therefore increase the cost of the water dispensing apparatus. In addition, using a more complicated structure generally results in a greater likelihood of having mechanical problems, such as a tubular portion of the spout springing a leak. Therefore, higher overall maintenance costs are likely to result with such structures. Furthermore, only the specialized water containers disclosed in the Parish reference can be used with the Parish structure, and such containers may not be widely available.
U.S. Pat. Nos.5,086,950, 4,635,824, and 5,427,276 all depict alternative adapters and couplings that may be used to support liquid containers on dispensing apparatus. Overall, these patents indicate that the typical solution to the problem of having the water bottle precariously balanced on the housing has been to use specialized adapters and the like to provide a tighter fit of the water bottle to the apparatus housing. Unfortunately, problems of increased structural complexity and a higher incident of mechanical problems has lead to a need for a simplified solution to the problem of water bottles falling off the dispenser apparatus which will not increase the overall complexity of the water dispensing apparatus and which will apply to existing apparatus' without modification thereof.